Who owns antiquities?

A public lecture on the question of who owns antiquities will be given at the University of St Andrews tonight (Monday 10 May 2010).

Dr Robert Anderson, former Director of the British Museum and Vice-President of Clare Hall at the University of Cambridge, will examine who really owns antiquities lost, stolen and unearthed over recent years.

Speaking ahead of the event, he said, “Antiquities, frequently being valuable and sought-after, often lead exciting, itinerant lives, ending up in places remote from where they originated. They can get into the news by being unexpectedly unearthed, offered surprising identities, sold for huge prices, exported (sometimes illegally), stolen, and even deliberately destroyed.”

Examining a range of cases to emphasise the complexity of the issue, subjects under the spotlight will include the Lewis Chessmen, the Lindisfarne Gospels, Napoleon and the appropriation of Italian antiquities, the Rosetta Stone, Nazi spoliation, the Euphonios Krater (Met Museum), and the Baminyan buddhas.

The event is organised by the recently formed Scarlet Gown Society.

The lecture, at 17.15 in School VI, St Salvator’s Quadrangle, is open to the public.  For further information contact Jens Timmermann on [email protected].

ENDS

Issued by the Press Office, University of St Andrews

Contact Gayle Cook, Senior Communications Manager on 01334 467227 / 462529, mobile 07900 050 103, or email [email protected]

Ref:  Antiquities 100510

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